Canada police investigate whether Toronto police death linked to global terror attacks

Investigators in Canada are probing whether the death of a Toronto police officer, who was killed while executing search warrants related to a shooting at US consulate, is linked a broader series of global terror attacks.

Constable Marc Pinizzotto, a 43-year-old member of the emergency task force, was killed on Thursday during a dawn search of an apartment building in the city’s west.

Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw told reporters the search “concerned a number of shootings” including one targeting the US consulate in Toronto earlier this year.

That attack took place in early March, when two gunmen opened fire at the US consulate in Toronto. No one was injured and the suspected shooters fled in a white vehicle.

A police source said the investigation is looking at whether the shooters are part of a broader, city-wide network of “shooters-for-hire” that has targeted buildings owned by large waste management company and private homes.

In recent years, Toronto and surrounding communities have been rocked by a series of escalating attacks on tow truck companies, including high profile murders and allegations of police corruption and investigators suspect the shooters could have ties to some of these attacks.

The source said investigators were also looking the possibility that the case was linked to a global terror network that has threatened retribution for US attacks on Iran.

In May, US authorities charged Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iraqi national, with terrorism. He is alleged to be the architect of nearly 20 attacks in Europe. US court documents suggest he has also claimed responsibility for the Toronto consulate shooting. In a criminal complaint, the FBI alleged that in a recorded telephone call al-Saadi suggested that “our people” were behind the attack.

The RCMP, Canada’s federal police force did not respond to questions about a possible connection. RCMP officers were present during the morning search of the Toronto apartment complex, according to local media.

American prosecutors have said Al-Saadi is behind a previously unknown group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, which is alleged to work with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to attack targets linked to the US and Israel.

Police have charged 19-year-old Nicholas Bennett with the first-degree murder of Pinizzotto. Officers are still searching the city for 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, warning he is likely still armed. Police received approval from a judge to release a photo of Jabbi while he was a minor until 15 June.

Ontario’s special investigations unit, which is called when civilians are seriously injured or killed by police, is investigating the shooting. Spokesperson Monica Hudon said four other people were in the apartment unit at the time when an “exchange of gunfire” broke out.

Pinizzotto, a father of two and avid hockey player and youth coach. “He spent 18 years keeping people safe,” said the Oakville mayor Rob Burton. “He spent a lifetime giving back.”

Politicians, including the Toronto mayor, Olivia Chow, and prime minister Mark Carney, also paid tribute to Pinizzotto. Ontario premier Doug called the shooting- and the killing of another officer earlier in the week “a sobering reminder of the sacrifices and risks faced by police officers”.